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Biography:
While growing up in New York City, Jordan Peele had many opportunities to do what he terms "cool stuff." One anecdote that Jordan loves to share involves a trip that he took to Washington, DC, when he was a young teen. He was one of about forty kids asked to participate in a Peter Jennings special in which the kids asked then-U.S. President Bill Clinton any questions that were on their minds. Before Jordan could ask President Clinton what he planned to do to help single mothers, Jennings tried to end the telecast; however, the observant President caught Jordan's hand in the air just in time to interrupt Jennings and answer the persistent youngster's question. As Jordan later joked, "You didn't get me that time, Jennings." In a sense, that anecdote serves as a metaphor for Jordan's five-year stint on "MADtv," during which he has learned that the most successful performers are the ones who know how to look out for themselves: "No one's going to get your back; you've got to grab some." That valuable showbiz lesson has been a long time in the making.

Jordan's first real foray into the performance arena was TADA!, a nonprofit youth theater in New York City with a very supportive learning environment. At Calhoun, a college preparatory school located in Manhattan's West Side, Jordan performed in many theater presentations. While attending Sarah Lawrence College, in New York City, Jordan became involved with Judith -- not a woman, but the college comedy troupe. Still, a woman from Judith, troupe director Rebecca Drysdale, would prove instrumental in Jordan's initial ascent through the improv comedy ranks. The two friends moved to Chicago, IL, in June 1999 to study at Second City and Improv Olympics; soon after, they put together a sketch comedy program entitled "Two White Guys." The show was hugely successful at both Second City's Sky Box Theater and Improv Olympics, where it won a Del Award for Best Scripted Show. Nevertheless, bigger things for Jordan were on the horizon.

After about a year of studying and performing in Chicago, Jordan traveled to Amsterdam, Holland, to audition for Boom Chicago. He won a spot with the acclaimed improv theater, where he would work alongside fellow future "MADtv" cast members Ike Barinholtz, Josh Meyers, and Nicole Parker. Jordan loved the immediacy of the Boom Chicago experience: "You can figure out exactly what somebody's sense of humor is. You can see them do five improv scenes in one night, and you get to see them do their take on a character. If you go the next night, you've got everybody's character and their 'bit' down." The theater placed a great emphasis on taking care of one's improv partner onstage; as a result, there was always a great rapport among Boom Chicago's performers. Jordan always saw them as "warm folk" in a supportive environment, the likes of which he has not quite experienced since.

Nevertheless, Jordan would have been hard-pressed to argue that being a cast member on "MADtv" was not been a great trade-off: "It's a confidence roller coaster, and it's also incredibly fun. I feel very lucky to be a part of it." The first step to becoming a part of "MADtv" was to audition in Los Angeles, CA, over two days. The following morning, Jordan flew back to Amsterdam; that evening, Boom Chicago alumni Josh Meyers and Ike Barinholtz, who were now full-fledged "MADtv" cast members, called him with the great news. Jordan began his "MADtv" stint as a featured player during Season 9; by Season 10, he too was a regular cast member.

Jordan readily admits that "MADtv" differed from Boom Chicago in many regards: "[I'm] responsible for more of myself than I have been before. When I first got [to 'MADtv'], I wanted to be taken care of, like what you were in improv school." Jordan points out that on "MADtv," more people would make decisions for him than ever before, especially in terms of writing. Whereas he wrote or co-wrote nearly everything he did at Boom Chicago, he didn't quite have the same sense of autonomy at "MADtv": "It's weird to just all of a sudden have somebody give you their take on what you do. You feel like you don't want to mess it up because their job's in there too." Also, the overall sense of intimacy that existed at Boom Chicago was largely missing at "MADtv"; in fact, the producers normally saw Jordan and the other cast members during only the tapings and table readings. Even so, Jordan noted that the "MADtv" cast was surprisingly tight; after all, before the other cast members joined "MADtv," many of them had performance experiences similar to Jordan's.

Therefore, despite the initial shock he felt upon first making the transition from Boom Chicago to "MADtv," Jordan learned to adapt very well. Although the show's writers did not really know what to do with Jordan initially, things gradually improved for him. In fact, Jordan himself eventually became one of the primary contributing writers for "MADtv"; the freedom to use his imagination in this way, he said, was the most fun part of being a "MADtv" cast member. He even found time for various side projects: a movie with Ike and Dave Chappelle (which unfortunately was never released), a cameo in the Weird Al Yankovic video "White and Nerdy," and even a guest appearance on "Celebrity Poker Showdown" with fellow "MADtv" cast member Keegan-Michael Key. To this day, Jordan still gets a kick out of people who recognize him as "that guy from 'MADtv'" or "that guy from the Weird Al video." Although he still yearned at times for the camaraderie of those Boom Chicago days, Jordan Peele definitely learned to succeed on his own as a "MADtv" cast member.

Unfortunately for his fans, after five seasons on "MADtv," Jordan decided to say goodbye to the series that helped propel him to his current star status. Because of the writer's strike during the abbreviated Season 13, Jordan's last for "MADtv," many speculated that those involved with the show would seek a loophole in his original five-year contract in order to squeeze more episodes out of him for Season 14. Somehow, though, Jordan managed to escape any rumored power play, thereby taking advantage of the opportunity to leave "MADtv" on his own terms. For a comedic performer who had learned over the years to take care of himself and call his own shots, the departure seemed like a fitting end to his tenure on the sketch comedy series. Jordan Peele will certainly have the opportunity to call many more of those shots as he pursues his post-"MADtv" entertainment career and continues to provide his numerous fans with quality laughs for years to come.

Jordan Peele was born and raised in New York. He fell in love with improv and sketch comedy while performing the comedy troupe at Sarah Lawrence called Judith; He liked it so much that he left school two years early to Co-write and perform in Two White Guys in Chicago with fellow SLC student Becky Drysdale. After the successful two-hander, Jordan appeared in several more improv shows before landing a job at Boom Chicago in AMsterdam. After three years in Holland, Jordan makes a proud return to be on Mad TV with Boom Chigago co-stars Ike Barinholtz, Josh Meyers, and Nicole Parker. Also, Jordan loves his Mom.

Jordan Peele 2000-
Jordan was born and raised in New York City and fell in love with theater at an early age. He fled to Chicago after two years of studying to chase down his dream of being funny. When off stage he enjoys making puppets, watching cartoons and eating frites.

__________________
"Saddam Hussein was a threat. He was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction on his own people. He was a threat because he coddled terrorists. He was a threat because he funded suiciders. He was a threat to the region. He was a threat to the United States" --- Dubya

"And it's a different kind of war than we're used to. I explained part of the difference is the fact that the battlefield is now here at home. It's also a war where the enemy doesn't show up with airplanes that they own, or tanks or ships. These are suiciders" --- Dubya

The Calhoun School, founded in 1896, is a progressive, coeducational, college preparatory school for students in early childhood through twelfth grade. The school is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and the New York State Education Department.

Jordan Peele '97
Actor/Comedian, MAD TV
Classmates, faculty and parents remember Jordan Peele '97 as a talented artist and as a versatile actor, performing many unforgettable roles in Calhoun's theatre presentations. So it was no surprise to hear that Jordan's talents were attracting appreciative audiences--first in Chicago, then on to Amsterdam, and back to the U.S. -- now as a regular cast member of MAD TV.

Jordan became involved with a comedy troupe called Judith while attending Sarah Lawrence College. Judith went over so well on campus that he and another of the troupe's directors, Rebecca Drysdale, decided to move to Chicago in June of 1999 to study at Second City and Improv Olympics. They immersed themselves in Chicago's comedy world, putting together a sketch comedy program they called "Two White Guys" (neither of them being one). The show was a huge hit, first at the Sky Box theatre at Second City and then at Improv Olympics; it won "Best Scripted Show," at the Improv Olympic's annual awards show, the Del's. In the fall of 2000, Jordan auditioned for and won a spot with "Boom Chicago," a highly acclaimed improvisational theatre in Amsterdam Holland. Three years later, he is having the time of his life in the cast of MAD TV. We're all watching!

Originally posted by dumbguy I'm confused. Is he gonna be back or not? Every site says only Josh Meyers and Gillian Vigman are gone, but on madtv.com Jordan isn't pictured with the rest of this coming season's cast.

Kinda sad, he's a current cast member but has the second least number of posts in his thread.

Jordan is a good cast member, and now that he's begun filming sketches again (which we'll hopefully see real soon), I hope he does well and stays on for a while. His Morgan Freeman and Lenny Kravitz impressions are awesome.

I think that while he was a solid castmember last season, and had a few moments of brilliance (IMO), he hasn't really been given the opportunity to be central to many sketches like Nicole and Keegan have.

Oh, and this is an interesting tidbit I picked up at the BoomChicago website. When Jordan was meant to leave Holland for MADtv in August last year, he misread his itinerary and mistook Tuesday for Thursday. So, his colleagues at BoomChicago threw him a going away party or show on the Thursday he thought he was meant to leave, and when he got to the airport, they realised that he had gotten the days mixed up.

A video of one of the segments he performed in during his time with Boom Chicago. It stopped for me right at the point where Jordan comes on. (Does the guy in beginning remind anyone else of Pat Kilbane?)

He has (or did) a character called "Ute" who is a Danish Supermodel and starts alot of sentences with "But! because...". Here's a picture. Obviously, it isn't very cerebral because its him just in a wig and scarf. But why can't they do this character (with a proper wig and prosthetics) on MADtv?

Originally posted by Jim_Cockhurtz I was bored... so I looked up some stuff on some castmembers.

Here's what I found for Jordan:

A video of one of the segments he performed in during his time with Boom Chicago. It stopped for me right at the point where Jordan comes on. (Does the guy in beginning remind anyone else of Pat Kilbane?)

He has (or did) a character called "Ute" who is a Danish Supermodel and starts alot of sentences with "But! because...". Here's a picture. Obviously, it isn't very cerebral because its him just in a wig and scarf. But why can't they do this character (with a proper wig and prosthetics) on MADtv?

Jordan: Which is an improvisational—American—In English, sketch and improvisation, and I was doing that with Ike Barinholtz, uh, Nicole Parker, Josh Meyers who used to be on the show, and yeah, that’s where I met those guys.

(“Nerves” appears on screen)

Jordan: You know, at some point, the nerves, you know, and I was nervous before shows for years and years and still sometimes it will happen. The nerves kind of transform into an excitement.

(“Krumpin’” appears on screen)

Jordan: It’s the man-up sketches, that we’ll probably do in a couple weeks, but I got another sketch that’s going on tonight, it’s called “Krumpin’”. It’s based on Rize, the documentary that Dave Lachapelle. Yeah. Yeah. He directed this documentary on Krump dancing, which is this sort of urban expression of aggression and what not, that keeps people off the streets. Anyway, Crista Flanagan and I have a scene tonight where we do full on Krump dancing and we tried it the other day. It’s the most hardest things I can imagine doing. Just gonna be glistening with sweat at the end of that so, if you like black men glistening with sweat, then… watch MADtv.

(“Man Up” appears on screen)

Jordan: Well, our choreographer, Monee, actually comes in and she works with us and it’s just amazing, Emmy nominated choreographer that helps us, put the whole dance routines together. But you know, the reason that’s seen as so attractive is because of the synchronized things, so once we realize we do something and say something together, and it gets a laugh, then we just—through the roof, you know? Everything just has to be well oiled and that’s also exhausting to do, as you can imagine, especially with the prosthetics. I gotta corn rows on for that.

(“Characters” appears on screen)

Jordan: Funkenstein. I think the jury is still out on Funkenstein. I hope we see some Funkenstein this year, but I can tell you what is definitely on my sights then. There’s gonna be some more Morgan Freeman, hit off on James Earl Jones. There’s a lot of impressions I wanna get and do it more. I did Montel Williams my first year. I want to do some more Montel. (Montel impression) “That guy’s the funniest I can. I love Montel Williams. You know what, forget. I don’t even know. I can’t even believe I’m here and us. You know?” I love doing Montel Williams so much. Definitely going to do that. I got this kid called Lorenz, we’re going to do the next taping, who’s this character sketch of this kid who sells candy door to door. And some more Inside Looking Out, which is the sketch I write with Nicole Parker. We’re the interracial couple that is way too in love for their own good. I’m really excited. It looks like it’s gonna be a full juicy year.

(“Prosthetics” appears on screen)

Jordan: Sometimes, we have so much prosthetics on that you feel like the character can be muffled. Now, in the past, I’ve been so into wearing these prosthetics because you can just transform yourself. I just think that’s the beauties of working here. Then of course, you go home and your mom asks, well, I wish I could see your face a bit more, Jordan. You start realizing maybe you gotta, sorta, find the line where Jordan can come out and Morgan Freeman can come out too. That’s the only thing coming close to something I would do. I’d do anything for comedy. I’ll do anything for comedy.

Originally posted by MysterE Thanks newt. I was thinking of making a transcripts subforum for these. What do you guys think of that?

Well, there are literally only 2 madtv exclusives out there. This one and the Bobby Lee webcast from last year. So there really isn't a need for one. This must be an annual thing, which sucks because these are awesome.